Fantasy World Series Game 3: 1980 Phillies vs. 2008 Phillies

Well, let's hope this game actually has a little bit of drama in it. Drama makes everything funner. Once again, credit to WhatIfSports. The winner of this game will cement their role as the best Phillies team ever. The 1980 Phillies won Game 1, 4-1. The 2008 Phillies won Game 2, 5-2. Let's get into Game 3.

From Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pitching Match-up: Bob Walk (ERA 4.57) vs. Jamie Moyer (ERA 3.71)

Top of the First Inning

Garry Maddox starts the game out by grounding to short. Up next is Pete Rose and he will send one a mile high into left center that is easily handled. Mike Schmidt is up next. SCHMIDT SMOKES IT! DEEP TO CENTER.....IS IT ENOUGH?......IT'S GONE! Mike Schmidt hits one that barely clears the wall at center and it's 1-0 1980 Phillies. Ryan Howard catches Bake McBride's liner to end the inning. 1-0 '80 Phils thanks to Mike Schmidt's solo shot.

Bottom of the First Inning

Jimmy Rollins starts things out for the '08 Phillies by grounding out to first. Jayson Werth is up next and he hits a single to left center! Utley and Howard both draw walks and it's bases loaded for Pat Burrell who also walks! That bases-loaded walk ties it at 1! Victorino is up next and he hits one that bounces off the mound into center field! Utley and Howard both score and the '08 Phils lead 3-1 on Victorino's single! Pedro Feliz is up next and he pops out to short. Ruiz hits a fly ball to right center and that will end the inning. 3-1 '08 Phillies.

Top of the Second Inning

Luzinski pops out to Feliz. Manny Trillo gets out on a grounder to short. Boone is up next and he pops one up that lands in the hole! Single for Boone. Bowa does not do him any favors by lining out to J-Roll and ending the inning. 3-1 '08 Philllies.

Bottom of the Second Inning

On comes Jamie Moyer and he hits a line drive!....that's caught easily by Manny Trillo. J-Roll draws a walk. On comes Jayson Werth but look out! Rollins steals 2nd! WERTH!...DEEP!.....GONE! That 2-run shot puts the 2008 Phillies up 5-1! Utley is up next and he LAUNCHES ONE DEEP! AT THE WALL THE CATCH IS MADE BY McBRIDE! Howard steps up to the plate and he singles to center. Burrell lines out to McBride. Victorino is up next and he ends the inning by striking out. 5-1 '08 Phillies.

Top of the Third Inning

Walk is first up and he flies out to deep left. Garry Maddox and he too lets one soar that is caught by Burrell. On comes Pete Rose and he pops one up but it falls through for the single. Schmidt lines out to J-Roll to end the inning.

Bottom of the Third Inning

Pedro Feliz starts the inning by uncorking a popper to McBride. Ruiz comes in and he draws a walk. Moyer again makes contact but he hits into a 5-4 fielder's choice. J-Roll is next and he takes a walk. Up next is Jayson Werth who last time at the plate hit a homerun. This time he waves at a ball outside of the zone. 5-1 '08 Phillies

Top of the Fourth Inning

Bake McBride starts the inning with a walk. Luzinski comes up to bat and meanwhile McBride is trying to steal second! OUT! Luzinski waves at strike 3 out of the strike zone. Trillo ends the inning by grounding out to Howard. Still 5-1.

Bottom of the Fourth

Utley starts the inning by sending a flyball into the hole! Ryan Howard pops one up to McBride. Pat Burrell comes up and he sends one deep to right that's caught by Maddox. Victorino flies out to Luzinski and that'll end the inning. 5-1 '08 Phillies.

Top of the Fifth Inning

Boone starts the inning off with a line drive to center! And the '80 Phillies start with a double. Bowa comes up next and he singles to center! 1st and 3rd with nobody out as Lonnie Smith will pinch-hit for the pitcher, Walk. Smith hits into a 6-4 fielder's choice, which allows Boone to score! 5-2. On comes Garry Maddox. Smith is running! He's got second! Here comes the next pitch, and Smith is going again! He's got third! Maddox flies one down the left-field line! Smith scores easily on Maddox's double and it's 5-3! Rose hits an infield single to short which leaves runners on 1st and 3rd for Schmidt. Schmidt hits into a 3-6 fielder's choice! Maddox SCORES FROM 3RD! And it's 5-4! And it's pitching change time. Durbin is replacing Moyer. McBride with a line drive single! 1st and 2nd for Luzinski who strikes out to end the inning. And this one is interesting, 5-4 '08 Phillies

Bottom of the Fifth Inning

On will come Dickie Noles to pitch for the '80 Phillies. Feliz will lead off the inning by grounding out to short. Ruiz grounds out to Trillol Durbin with a swing and a miss ends the inning. 5-4 '08 Phillies.

Top of the Sixth Inning

Trillo leads off by grounding out to Howard. Boone pops out to Werth. Larry Bowa grounds out to Howard and it's an easy 1-2-3 inning for Durbin. 5-4 '08 Phillies.

Bottom of the Sixth Inning

Jimmy Rollins leads off the inning by popping out to first base man, Pete Rose. Werth comes up next and he connects with a line drive single to left! Utley strikes out. On comes Ryan Howard and he walks. Men on 1st and 2nd for Burrell. Burrell bloops one to left-center! The outfield is late getting to the ball! Werth scores from second easily! AND HOWARD'S TRYING FOR HOME AS WELL! THE THROW TO THE PLATE IS NOT IN TIME! Howard scores and it's 7-4 '08 Phillies on the bloop double by Burrell. Ron Reed is coming on to pitch to Victorino. Flyball to center falls in the hole! Burrell will round 3rd and score! 8-4 '08 Phillies, and it's once again a 4-run game! 2-0ut with Victorino on 2nd and a wild pitch to Feliz sends Victorino to 3rd! Feliz, however strikes out and that'll end the inning. 8-4 '08 Phillies and this one is getting ugly again.

Top of the Seventh Inning

Ron Reed leads off the inning by grounding to short. Maddox is up next and he uncorks one to left for a single. Rose flies out to left cinter. Schmidt bloops one to right-center that sends Maddox all the way to 3rd! 1st and 3rd with 2 out for McBride. McBride lines one to left! Maddox scores and it's 8-5! J.C. Romero comes in to pitch to Greg Luzinski. Luzinski bloops one to left-center! Schmidt scores easily from 2nd! McBride is going to try to score from 1st! THE THROW TO THE PLATE IS NOT IN TIME! '80 PHILLIES ARE WITHIN 1 RUN AGAIN! Trillo flies out to left-center to end the inning. A 2-out rally from the 1980 Philles have them once again within 1. 8-7 in favor of the 2008 Phillies but the old-timers are not going easily into the Philly night.

Bottom of the Seventh Inning

Ruiz starts things off by fling out to left-center. Up next is J.C. Romero. ROMERO LAUNCHES ONE OFF THE WALL! MADDOX OVERPLAYED IT! ROMERO HAS A TRIPLE! INCREDIBLE! J-Roll draws the walk. Jayson Werth is next to bat and Werth flies one deep down the left field line. It's caught by McBride but Romero scores easily and it's 9-7 for the 2008 Phillies! Oh my, here we go again. Here comes Chase Utley. And here we go again, indeed! J-Roll steals second! Okay, maybe not again as Utley grounds out. The 2008 Phillies have tacked on another, leading 9-7.

Top of the Eighth Inning

Bob Boone leads off the top of the eighth inning with a flyout to Pat Burrell. Bowa grounds out to first. George Vukovich comes into pinch hit for the pitcher, Reed and he flies out to right center field. 9-7 2008 Phillies.

Bottom of the Eighth Inning

Kevin Saucier comes into pitch for the 1980 Phillies. Howard grounds out to first. Pat Burrell takes ball 4 and walks. Up next is the Flyin' Hawaiian. OUCH! Victorino is hit by a pitch and it's 1st and 2nd with two out for Pedro Feliz. Feliz grounds it to 2nd.....DOUBLE PLAY! 4-6-3 and that ends the inning. Heading into the ninth inning, the 2008 Phillies have a 2-run lead and are 3-outs away from being considered the best team in Phillies history.

Top of the Ninth Inning

Here we go. Can the 1980 Phillies come back, or will the 2008 Phillies win the series? You can cut the tension with a knife, folks. The 1980 Phillies have the top of their line-up at the plate and here is Garry Maddox with Brad Lidge now on the mound for the '08 Phillies. Maddox is hit in the leg! The tying run is now at the plate with nobody out! Pete Rose takes the plate and he gets hit by a pitch! 1st and 2nd with nobody out for the 1980 Phillies! Mike Schmidt comes up and he strikes out! Here comes Bake McBride to the plate! GROUNDBALL TO 3RD! McBride is out but the runners advance to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Two out. On comes Luzinski. GROUNDBALL DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE! MADDOX SCORES! The 1980 Phillies are now within 1! 9-8. Runners at 1st and 3rd. 2 0ut. Tying run 90 feet way. Trillo at the plate. TRILLO SMOKES A LINER TO RIGHT! MADDOX SCORES FROM 3RD AND THIS GAME IS TIED! UNBELIEVEABLE! 9-9 in the top of the ninth! After not blowing a save all year, Lidge has blown one here. On will come Clay Condrey to pitch with Bob Boone at the plate. Boone walks! Bases loaded, top of the ninth, 2 out, 9-9 game, and on comes Larry Bowa. LARRY BOWA SINGLES TO RIGHT! LUZINSKI SCORES! TRILLO SCORES! THE 1980 PHILLIES HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD! Absolutely incredible. 1st and 2nd with 2 out for Keith Moreland pinch hitting for Kevin Saucier. Moreland sends to through the hole at left-center! BOONE IS GOING TO TRY TO SCORE FROM 2ND! HE'S SAFE! 3-RUN LEAD FOR THE 1980 PHILLIES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! What a turnaround! From trailing by 2 to now leading by 3, the 1980 Phillies have completely taken control here in the 9th, 12-9. Tom Gordon now comes on to pitch for the 2008 Phillies. Maddox is back up to the plate, he got things started by taking a pitch in the leg. This time he grounds out to first and that finally ends the inning. Another remarkable 2-out rally have put the 1980 Phillies ahead, 12-9. Unbelieveable.

Bottom of the Ninth Inning

Who says we can't have another rally? The 2008 Phillies look as dejected as they have ever looked, but you never know. Tug McGraw comes into pitch. Ruiz is first to bat. Ruiz grounds one to left and reaches on the single! Greg Dobbs is coming into the game to pinch-hit for Tom Gordon. The Phillies need something from Dobbs. And Dobbs delivers! THAT ONE IS HIT TO LEFT CENTER FIELD AND THAT BALL IS OUTTA HERE! A 2-RUN HOMER AND THE 2008 PHILLIES ARE SUDDENLY WITHIN 1! And on top of all that, there's no one out with the top of the line up at the plate. Jimmy Rollins comes in and he grounds out to first. 1 away. Werth is up and he sends one through the hole to left field for the single! The trying run is at first. The winning run is at the plate. Chase Utley walks! Howard gets intentionally walked and the bases are loaded in the bottom of the ninth! On comes Pat Burrell. High popper to right-center! Maddox catches the popper! WERTH TAKES OFF! MADDOX HAS A CHANCE WITH THE THROW! THE THROW TO BOONE IS TOO HIGH! WERTH SCORES! WE'RE TIED! AGAIN! 12-12! How's this for an exciting finish? Good lord. Anyway, here comes Victorino to the plate. A chance to win the game for the Phillies with runners at 2nd and 3rd 2-out. Lerrin Lagrow comes into pitch, replacing Tug McGraw. And here's the Flyin' Hawaiian. VICTORINO SINGLES TO RIGHT CENTER! NO CHANCE AT THE PLATE! UTLEY SCORES! 2008 PHILLIES WIN! 13-12! WHAT A COMEBACK! WHAT A GAME!

Final line
1980 Philadelphia Phillies: 12 runs, 16 hits, 0 errors
2008 Philadelphia Phillies: 13 runs, 14 hits, 0 errors

Well then, can you imagine if that were a real game? It'd be the game of the year in baseball. And I swear that's how WhatIfSports simulated it. Yeah, that was incredible.

That was fun. I hope you were entertained by reading my narrations of the play-by-play of these simulated games. I'll probably have some more simulations in the football offseason, when things are kind of slow.